Editing Gamal Abdel Nasser (section)

== Early life ==
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein<ref>{{citation|url=https://ahlan.com/%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%B1-%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A9 |title=Gamal Abdel Nasser's Egyptian ID card |author=حسام الدين الأمير |access-date=28 January 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129022436/https://ahlan.com/%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%B1-%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A9| archive-date=29 January 2022}}</ref> was born in [[Bakos, Alexandria|Bakos]], [[Alexandria]], Egypt on 15 January 1918, a year before the tumultuous events of the [[Egyptian Revolution of 1919]].<ref name="V23">{{Harvnb|Vatikiotis|1978|pp=23–24}}</ref> Nasser's father was a postal worker<ref>{{Harvnb|Joesten|1974|p=14}}</ref> born in [[Beni Mur]] in [[Upper Egypt]],<ref>Aburish, 2004, p. 12.</ref><ref>Stephens, 1972, p. 22.</ref> and raised in Alexandria,<ref name="V23" /> and his mother's family came from [[Mallawi]], [[Minya Governorate|el-Minya]].<ref name="Stephens 23">{{Harvnb|Stephens|1972|p=23}}</ref> His parents had married in 1917.<ref name="Stephens 23" /> Nasser had two brothers, Izz al-Arab and al-Leithi.<ref name="V23" /> Nasser's biographers Robert Stephens and [[Said Aburish]] wrote that Nasser's family believed strongly in the "Arab notion of glory", since the name of Nasser's brother, Izz al-Arab, translates to "Glory of the Arabs".<ref name="Aburish12-13">{{Harvnb|Aburish|2004|pp=12–13}}</ref>

Nasser's family traveled frequently due to his father's work. In 1921, they moved to [[Asyut]] and, in 1923, to [[Khatatba]], where Nasser's father ran a post office. Nasser attended a primary school for the children of railway employees until 1924, when he was sent to live with his paternal uncle in [[Cairo]], and to attend the Nahhasin elementary school.<ref>{{Harvnb|Stephens|1972|p=26}}</ref>

Nasser exchanged letters with his mother and visited her on holidays. He stopped receiving messages at the end of April 1926. Upon returning to Khatatba, he learned that his mother had died after giving birth to his third brother, Shawki, and that his family had kept the news from him.<ref name="Stephens 28-32">{{Harvnb|Stephens|1972|pp=28–32}}</ref><ref name="Alexander14">{{Harvnb|Alexander|2005|p=14}}</ref> Nasser later stated that "losing her this way was a shock so deep that time failed to remedy".<ref name="BibliothecaHoda">{{cite web |url=http://nasser.bibalex.org/Common/pictures01-%20sira_en.htm#1 |title=A Historical Sketch of Gamal Abdel Nasser |publisher=[[Bibliotheca Alexandrina]] |first=Hoda |last=Abdel Nasser |access-date=23 July 2013}}</ref> He adored his mother and the injury of her death deepened when his father remarried before the year's end.<ref name="Stephens 28-32" /><ref name="Aburish8-9">{{Harvnb|Aburish|2004|pp=8–9}}</ref><ref name="V24">{{Harvnb|Vatikiotis|1978|p=24}}</ref>

In 1928, Nasser went to Alexandria to live with his maternal grandfather and attend the city's Attarin elementary school.<ref name="Alexander14" /><ref name="BibliothecaHoda" /> He left in 1929 for a private boarding school in [[Helwan]], and later returned to Alexandria to enter the Ras el-Tin secondary school and to join his father, who was working for the city's postal service.<ref name="Alexander14" /><ref name="BibliothecaHoda" /> It was in Alexandria that Nasser became involved in political activism.<ref name="Alexander14" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Stephens|1972|pp=33–34}}</ref> After witnessing clashes between protesters and police in Manshia Square,<ref name="BibliothecaHoda" /> he joined the demonstration without being aware of its purpose.<ref>{{Harvnb|Joesten|1974|p=19}}</ref> The protest, organized by the [[ultranationalist]] [[Young Egypt Party (1933)|Young Egypt Society]], called for the end of colonialism in Egypt in the wake of the [[Egyptian Constitution of 1923|1923 Egyptian constitution]]'s annulment by Prime Minister [[Isma'il Sidqi]].<ref name="BibliothecaHoda" /> Nasser was arrested and detained for a night<ref name="Litvin39">{{Harvnb|Litvin|2011|p=39}}</ref> before his father bailed him out.<ref name="Alexander14" /> Nasser joined the paramilitary wing of the group, known as the [[Green Shirts]], for a brief period in 1934.<ref>{{Harvnb|Alexander|2005|p=18}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Aburish|2004|p=21}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Woodward|1992|p=15}}</ref> His association with the group and active role in student demonstrations during this period "imbued him with a fierce Egyptian nationalism", according to the historian James Jankowski.<ref>{{Harvnb|Jankowski|2001|p=28}}</ref>

When his father was transferred to Cairo in 1933, Nasser joined him and attended al-Nahda al-Masria school.<ref name="BibliothecaHoda" /><ref name="Alexander15">{{Harvnb|Alexander|2005|p=15}}</ref> He took up acting in school plays for a brief period and wrote articles for the school's paper, including a piece on French philosopher [[Voltaire]] titled "Voltaire, the Man of Freedom".<ref name="BibliothecaHoda" /><ref name="Alexander15" /> On 13 November 1935, Nasser led a student demonstration against British rule, protesting against a statement made four days prior by UK foreign minister [[Samuel Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood|Samuel Hoare]] that rejected prospects for the 1923 Constitution's restoration.<ref name="BibliothecaHoda" /> Two protesters were killed and Nasser received a graze to the head from a policeman's bullet.<ref name="Litvin39" /> The incident garnered his first mention in the press: the nationalist newspaper ''Al Gihad'' reported that Nasser led the protest and was among the wounded.<ref name="BibliothecaHoda" /><ref name="J66">{{Harvnb|Joesten|1974|p=66}}</ref> On 12 December, the new king, [[Farouk of Egypt|Farouk]], issued a decree restoring the constitution.<ref name="BibliothecaHoda" />

Nasser's involvement in political activity increased throughout his school years, such that he only attended 45 days of classes during his last year of secondary school.<ref name="Alexander19-20">{{Harvnb|Alexander|2005|pp=19–20}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Stephens|1972|p=32}}</ref> Despite it having the almost unanimous backing of Egypt's political forces, Nasser strongly objected to the [[Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936|1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty]] because it stipulated the continued presence of British military bases in the country.<ref name="BibliothecaHoda" /> Nonetheless, political unrest in Egypt declined significantly and Nasser resumed his studies at al-Nahda,<ref name="Alexander19-20" /> where he received his [[leaving certificate]] later that year.<ref name="BibliothecaHoda" />

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Gamal Abdel Nasser.jpg|Nasser in 1931|alt=A boy wearing a jacket, a white shirt with a black tie and a fez on his head
File:Al-Gihad's mention of Nasser, 1935.jpg|Nasser's name circled in ''Al-Gihad''
</gallery>

=== Early influences ===
Aburish asserts that Nasser was not distressed by his frequent relocations, which broadened his horizons and showed him Egyptian society's [[class division]]s.<ref name="Aburish11-2" /> His own social status was well below the wealthy Egyptian elite, and his discontent with those born into wealth and power grew throughout his lifetime.<ref name="Alexander27" /> Nasser spent most of his spare time reading, particularly in 1933, when he lived near the [[Egyptian National Library and Archives|National Library of Egypt]]. He read the [[Qur'an]], the [[Hadith|sayings]] of [[Muhammad]], the lives of the [[Sahaba]] (Muhammad's companions),<ref name="Aburish11-2">{{Harvnb|Aburish|2004|pp=11–12}}</ref> the biographies of nationalist leaders [[Napoleon]], [[Atatürk]], [[Otto von Bismarck]] and [[Garibaldi]], and the [[My Early Life|autobiography]] of [[Winston Churchill]].<ref name="BibliothecaHoda" /><ref name="Litvin39" /><ref name="Alexander16">{{Harvnb|Alexander|2005|p=16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Books Gamal Abdel Nasser Used to Read, 1. During his Secondary School Years |url=http://nasser.bibalex.org/Common/pictures01-%20sira4_en.htm#1 |publisher=[[Bibliotheca Alexandrina]] |access-date=20 August 2013}}</ref>

Nasser was greatly influenced by [[Egyptian nationalism]], as espoused by politician [[Mustafa Kamil Pasha|Mustafa Kamel]], poet [[Ahmed Shawqi]],<ref name="Aburish11-2" /> and his anti-colonialist instructor at the [[Egyptian Military Academy|Royal Military Academy]], [[Aziz al-Masri]], to whom Nasser expressed his gratitude in a 1961 newspaper interview.<ref>{{Harvnb|Talhami|2007|p=164}}</ref> He was especially influenced by Egyptian writer [[Tawfiq al-Hakim]]'s novel ''Return of the Spirit'', in which al-Hakim wrote that the Egyptian people were only in need of a "man in whom all their feelings and desires will be represented, and who will be for them a symbol of their objective".<ref name="Litvin39" /><ref name="Alexander16" /> Nasser later credited the novel as his inspiration to launch the coup d'état that began the [[Egyptian Revolution of 1952]].<ref name="Alexander16" />